The HSE must make a full statement following the resignation this week of two prominent campaigners from a national steering group tasked with improving children\u2019s disability services, according to Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns.<\/p>\n
Deputy Cairns, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on disability, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is deeply concerning to learn that two of the three parent representatives on the group, which was set up as part of the process to shape the HSE\u2019s Roadmap to Improve Children\u2019s Disability Services 2023-2026 document, have suddenly resigned from their roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cBranding the strategy \u2018pure fantasy\u2019, Rebecca O\u2019Riordan and Aisling Byrne resigned in frustration because they felt their concerns were not being taken on board. They claimed that data presented to ministers was inaccurate and complained that families and staff delivering disability services were not consulted about the roadmap.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have also raised concerns around the lack of governance or accountability in the system.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is worrying that two prominent campaigners, with valuable insight and expertise in this area, have been lost to a steering group responsible for improving disability services for children.<\/p>\n
“It seems that parents have lost all hope that the approach being taken by the HSE will meet all the unmet needs. Services are threadbare, children are missing out on early intervention and there\u2019s no evidence or hope that this will change.<\/p>\n
“Disability services continue to be shamefully neglected by this Government. There is not one fully staffed Children’s Disability Network Team in the country, while Section 39 workers are still waiting for pay parity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister for Disability and the HSE must now urgently respond to the important questions raised by these resignations.\u201d<\/p>\n
July 18, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The HSE must make a full statement following the resignation this week of two prominent campaigners from a national steering group tasked with improving children\u2019s disability services, according to Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns. Deputy Cairns, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on disability, said: \u201cIt is deeply concerning to learn that two of the three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[499,11,400,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disability","category-health","category-holly-cairns","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n